One of the worst things about living in an over-crowded city?

Hailing a taxi.

It usually took forever and there was always so much competition and yelling, it always took ages just to get a taxi.

So guess what I was stuck doing?

Hailing a taxi.

I had just gotten out of work, and was now trying to hail a taxi to get home. I had a blind date set up for the evening, and was already running out of time to get home and get ready.

“TAXI!” I shouted another time, waving my arm over the street. Finally, a taxi stopped a bit down the street ahead of me. At least it had seen me and stopped. I ran for the car, pulling the door open and jumping into the car.

After I closed the door, I dropped my bag on the floor of the car and leaned down to reach for it.

Odd, I was sure I only had one bag… I looked up.

“AH!” We screamed in unison, jumping and hitting our foreheads against each other. “Ow!” We groaned in unison, mirroring expressions of pain and rubbing our foreheads.

“S-sorry.” We stuttered, bowing our heads to each other in – again, unison. “Should – Oh – You first – No, you – “

We gaped at each other.

Then I leaned away from him and leaned against the seat, a smile forming on my face. He stared at me before starting to laugh and pretty soon, we were both laughing.

“Hey lovebirds, are you going to tell me where you want to go or sit back there and propose to each other?” The driver suddenly said.

We looked at each other, gaping slightly because of the driver’s comment. Then we burst out laughing and we leaned forward to tell him our destinations, which… happened to be in the same place.

“I’m Dong Woo.” He smiled, holding out a hand to shake.

“I’m Velia.” I replied, putting my hand in his.

Boy was I surprised when, instead of shaking my hand, he lifted it to his face and pressed his lips against it, his eyes glittering in a smile behind his glasses.

I know I was blushing.

“It’s a very pretty name, Velia. Suited for a very pretty girl… if we live in the same apartment building, how is it I’ve never seen you before?”

I know I started blushing a little harder.

“I – I don’t know.”

Dong Woo pushed his glasses up on his face, shooting me a slightly mischievous smile. “Well, at least I’ve found you now. Are you free tonight?”

I could see the taxi driver smiling at me from the rear view mirror.

“I – I actually have a blind date…” I stuttered, instantly wishing I hadn’t said that. I’d so much rather spend time with this guy…

Dong Woo stuck out his bottom lip in a slight pout. “I do too. I’d rather spend time with you, though.” He sulked quietly, making me laugh and reach over to flick the side of his glasses.

“Dork. You can drop by my apartment any time, you know.” I reached into my bag and pulled out a piece of paper, scrawling my room number and phone number on it. It wasn’t like me to be this bold, and I dropped the paper into his hands before dropping some money into the taxi driver’s hands and bolting out of the stopped car. “See you!” I called over my shoulder before running as fast as I could into the building.

What a nice way to start off a night.

“Hey, Missy.” A voice shouted behind me.

I dropped my purse on the counter and turned around. The person and I mirrored expressions of shock and awe.

“Dong Woo.”

“Velia.”

And again, we burst out laughing.

“You look great.” He finally said when we stopped laughing, gesturing down at the simple black dress I’d changed into and the small curls I’d worked into my hair. I wasn’t usually one for wearing dresses, but I wanted to make a good impression on my date. Heh.

“I could say the same.” I returned, nodding at the dark jeans hugging his legs and the blue dress shirt whose sleeves he’d casually rolled up. He looked so much more comfortable than he had in the taxi, in that stiff gray suit and glasses.

And without his glasses, his eyes glittered like small stars in the dimly lit restaurant we stood in.

“Your date is – “

“Here?” He finished with a smile. He shrugged and pointed back inside the restaurant. “She’s draped all over some other guy.”

I shifted my weight onto one foot, putting a hand on my hip as I gave him a teasing frown. “So your date’s the one that stole mine.”

He shook his head and we both broke into identical smiles. What were the chances?

“Are you hungry?”

“Starving.” I replied with a smile, pulling my purse off the counter and walking over to join him.

He held out an arm for me to take, a sweet smile on his face. “Then let’s go. I’m craving pizza.”

“We’re going to get stared at, in these getups.”

“I don’t care. Let them stare at us.”

Where had this guy been all my life?

A few hours later, I sat on a bench, fiddling with my bracelet. We’d had a nice dinner and even gone out for cupcakes afterwards. Dong Woo was perfect, like a fairy tale prince. But our story had to end when he dropped me off at my room, our only good-bye a wave and squeeze of our hands.

I hadn’t been able to sleep, so decided to head out to the park and watch the weekly firework show. Maybe I should have changed first though, because it was getting sort of cold.

Funny, I had only met Dong Woo twice and already, it felt like we were incredibly close. I didn’t remember the last time I had had so much fun during a simple dinner with someone. He was someone I could definitely consider falling for, although it was just my style to doubt it and reject the possibility. There was no way.

I had only gone on the blind date because my friend begged me to. I only accepted Dong Woo’s invitation because I had nothing else to do that night. I hadn’t even planned to come out to watch the fireworks, let alone without a –

“Jacket?” Something warm and soft settled over my bare shoulders and I looked up to see Dong Woo smiling down at me, his hands settled gently on the fabric he’d laid over my shoulders. “Hey Missy. Why didn’t you bring a jacket?”

“I didn’t think it’d be this cold.” I replied with a smile and patted the seat next to me. Dong Woo sat down and handed me a stick and a lighter.

When I just stared at it, he shrugged. “No fun in watching fireworks if you can’t join the show.” His hands gently pulled the lighter out of my hands and lit the sparkler, making it light up and start – well, sparkling in my hands.

“Wah…” I stared down at it, a little in awe because I’d never seen one before, let alone held one. “What are you doing out here?” I asked Dong Woo.

He shrugged again. “I couldn’t sleep. And something was just…pulling me here. You weren’t, perhaps, thinking of me, were you?” He winked charismatically.

I blushed. “No – no…” Yes.

“Oh well. I’m here anyway.”

We stared at each other for another little while as fireworks burst overhead, popping and crackling and lighting up the air. Then we started laughing and he scooted closer to me, putting an arm around my shoulders. “You know what they say?”

“What?”

“If you meet a person three times in one day, you’re destined to be together.”

I blushed more.

“Taxi. Restaurant. Fireworks. What do you say, Velia?”

I shrugged and smiled. “Maybe.”

As he closed the distance between us, I wondered if I would finally stop rejecting possibilities. 

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